Frequently Asked Questions about Recurring payments made with Debit and Credit Cards (Ref RBI guidelines)
To safeguard consumers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put in place new safety and security measures for card payments. It directly impacts recurring payments (such as monthly/quarterly/annual bill payments) via auto pay mode to merchants and service providers for the services you avail.
What is the implication of this for me, as a customer?
As customers, one permits various merchants to auto-charge our Credit/Debit Card regularly (monthly / quarterly / annually) for multiple services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Google, Gaana, Economic Times, Postpaid mobile, Insurance payments and more. W.e.f 1st Oct 2021 onwards, if the card-issuing Bank and merchants do not meet the new conditions prescribed by RBI, then such regular auto-charge payments will be declined.
Are the merchants and the Bank ready to meet the new conditions?
The new conditions prescribed by RBI require a cohesive effort by all stakeholders, including Card Issuing banks, Merchant Acquiring Banks, Card Networks and Merchants. All constituents have to complete the development, integration and deployment of a COMMON platform fully compliant with the RBI guidelines. Recently a common industry-wide platform has been built, and HDFC Bank has completed its internal development and integration. We are now working jointly with merchants for making it live for customers at the earliest.
What should I do if I want to continue using the services I subscribed to?
There are three ways in which you may continue to enjoy uninterrupted service:
- You will have to check our website on/after 1st Oct '21 to see the list of service providers and merchants that have enabled the new common RBI compliant platform. Register afresh for each service such as Google, Netflix, Gaana (enabled for new common RBI platform in their respective platforms) to permit them to charge your card for recurring payments.
- -Suppose your service provider doesn't get enabled for the new common RBI platform on 1st Oct'21,
- You can use our NetBanking platform to register your Electricity / Water / Gas / LPG / Landline telephone / Postpaid mobile / DTH / Broadband / Insurance billers for auto payments via our BillPay service.
After I complete the One-Time registration with a merchant/service provider in the new RBI compliant platform, how will it help me? Is there anything else that I would need to do every month?
After completing the One Time Registration,
You will receive a confirmation SMS from your Bank with e-Mandate details only for merchants/service providers enabled as per RBI.
Post that before every recurring transaction initiated by your merchant/service provider, you will receive a pre-debit notification (money to be paid to merchant) 24 hours in advance with the amount and merchant name, from your Bank.
You will also receive a link as part of the pre-debit notification that will lead you to the customer portal allowing you to view/modify/cancel that payment or the entire mandate if you wish to do so.
Suppose the recurring transaction amount is more than Rs. 15000 (maximum limit amount allowed for recurring payment by RBI).
- We will send you a pre debit notification with a link leading you to the customer portal. You will have to approve every such transaction incidence via OTP based authentication.
- You can also visit www.hdfcbank.com > Login button > Merchant Standing Instruction, leading you to customer portal to approve the transaction via OTP based authentication.
Some of my merchants/service providers are not yet ready with the One-Time Registration process as per new RBI e-Mandate guidelines. These payments/services are also not available on HDFC Bank NetBanking. What do I do now?
You will have to check with your merchant/service provider, whether they can
- Collect the amount due by you through alternate modes with OTP
- Other Additional Factor Authentication (AFA), or
- Provide you options to re-register for a more extended duration plan such as 3 / 6 / 12 months.
Will I have to pay charges if my recurring payment transaction gets declined due to a non-compliant process?
The Bank will not levy any charges. However, in the event of Merchants/Service providers levy any charges or fees towards the non/delayed payments, Bank will not be responsible for the same.
Will the Bank apply any charges to customers on the new RBI complaint process?
No, the Bank will not levy any charges to customers.
Does this impact Merchant EMI set on Debit / Credit cards or one-time payments?
There is no impact on EMI transactions and one-time non-recurring payments.
What is the difference between the old process and the new one?
Particulars | Old Process | New RBI Compliant Process |
Registration of eMandate at Merchant site |
|
|
Subsequent transaction | Auto charge to card, without OTP / other AFA | Auto charge to card, without OTP / other AFA but only when original transaction was with AFA/OTP. For transactions >15,000/-, AFA is required under new RBI e-Mandate guideline. |
Pre-transaction notification | Not provided | Customer will get pre-debit notification 24 hours prior, with details of upcoming e-mandate charge, date, amount, merchant name & reference number |
Opt-out facility pre-transaction | Not provided | Pre-debit notification will provide link leading to customer portal where view/modify/cancel options are made available |
Post transaction notification | Regular transaction notification | Customer will get post-debit notification, with date, amount, merchant name & reference number |
Opt out facility on bank website | Not provided | Customer can access Merchant Standing Instructions in the HDFC Bank login page (website) and withdraw from merchant registered e-mandates any time |
Maximum cap for Recurring transaction | No limit | However, customer has Authenticate the transaction via OTP if it is greater than Rs. 15,000 |
